WASHINGTON: Al Qaeda is trying to expand through corporate-style takeovers of regional Islamic extremist groups, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
Citing unnamed US intelligence officials and counterterrorism experts, the newspaper said these moves indicated a shift in strategy by the terrorist group as it sought to broaden its reach and renew its ability to strike Western targets. “Certainly we do see Al Qaeda trying to influence the broader movement and to control some of these affiliates in a more direct way,” the paper quotes a senior counterterrorism official as saying.
Bruce Riedel, a senior CIA counterterrorism official until late last year, said Al Qaeda “central” stands to gain hundreds or even thousands of foot soldiers, many of whom carry European passports and do not require a visa to travel to the United States, The Times said. “I think what we are seeing is the reconstitution of their capabilities to strike targets in Western Europe and ultimately North America on a scale identical or bigger than September 11,” Riedel is quoted as saying. The report said Al Qaeda leaders - based in northwestern Pakistan - have rebuilt a network of field commanders that was largely decimated in the post-September 11 attacks on its bases in Afghanistan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\09\17\story_17-9-2007_pg7_41
USF Terror Suspect Had Two Passports, Different Names
9/16/07
By Annie Jacobsen in category The Al-Qaeda Threat
The St. Petersburg Times offers new details on University of South Florida terror suspects Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed (Egyptian transliteration: "Mujahid").
In addition to providing details about the explosives, ammunition, fuses, gasoline, bomb making instructions and martyr-referencing video that the pair were carrying when they were pulled over by police for speeding, the Times provides alarming details about Megahed's travel documents. These details include:
~Megahed had two different passports at his house: one with his photograph and name and a second passport with his photograph and a different name.
~On July 29th, one week before being arrested, Megahed and his brother went to Sears and had additional passport-sized photographs taken of themselves.
~Megahed was denied naturalization in March of 2006 because he'd not spent the requisite calendar days in the United States. During a five-year period, from 1998-2003, Megahed spent 1,600 of those days in Egypt (out of a total of 1,825 days).
~Authorities cited Megahed's travels to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Canada to support their argument that he's a flight risk.
http://www.theaviationnation.com/2007/09/16/usf-terror-suspect-had-two-passports-different-names/